Courage
by got no socks on
Summary: Alice, Bella, and Edward grew up together. B moves away, but keeps in touch with A. B comes back to NY to live with her brother Charlie. E sees B all grownup and falls for her. B refuses to acknowledge his feelings for her or vice versa. AH OOC


my first fan fic, so i would love feedback

Alice, Bella, and Edward grew up together and are really close. Bella moves away, but still has contact with Alice. When Bella comes back to New York to live with her brother Charlie, we get reintroduced to Edward, the school player. When he sees Bella all grown up, he falls for her and tries to win her. Bella, being level headed, refuses to acknowledge his feelings for her or hers for him. When she does, she says it's because she doesn't want to ruin their friendship, and she knew that if he cheated on her (which she believes he would) they're friendship would be ruined because she hates when people break her trust.

BPOV

"What are you thinking about?" Charlie asked as he lifted my last suitcase from the cab and handed the cabbie some bills. Well, I was thinking that this piece of crap apartment sucked, and I would rather live in our old house and I didn't care if it was 30 minutes away from the city and this was closer to his work and…I quickly interrupted my own train of thought, for I was known to babble even in my own head. I took a deep breath and turned to face my brother. Once I saw the child like smile on his face, I didn't have the heart to let him down.

"I love it." I said with a smile on my face. I knew Charlie would accept it because it was what he wanted to hear. Charlie helped me drag my suitcases upstairs and showed me my room. He left a key on my nightstand and backed out of the room telling me he would give me some time to unpack.

I let out a large breath and sat down on the bed, opening the first suitcase containing my clothes and proceeded to fill the closet and dresser. As soon as that part was finished, I pulled out a small duffle bag and set it on the bed. I pulled out photos and placed them around the room. I pulled out the final picture and set it on my nightstand. I turned on the lamp to get a better look at it. The picture contained five children. The picture was of Charlie, Emmett, Edward, Alice and me on Edward and Alice's first day of school. Charlie, the oldest at 9 years old was wearing his crossing guard uniform, looking mighty proud. Then came Alice and Edward; both of them with new lunch boxes in hand and smiles on their faces. Next came Emmett, and although he was only 7, he was taller than Charlie by a good 3 inches. Emmett was looking down at a small smiling girl with a look of "what the hell do you think you're doing? You're not going to school!" I of course, was the little girl. Suddenly I heard a shrill scream and a voice yelling "CHARLIE!!! I told you to call me as soon as she got here!!

I smiled to my self and called, "I'm up here Alice!" before Alice decided to kill Charlie. Not a moment later, I was thrown backwards on the bed by a flying pixie. "Hello to you too, Alice!" I smile brightly. Although Alice stood no more than 5 feet, she was the kind of person that seemed tall despite their actual height. I assumed it had something to do with her vibrant personality. The rest of my unpacking was forgotten as Alice and I spent hours catching up. She told me about her boyfriend jasper, and his sister Rosalie (who happened to be dating Emmett), as well as everything I need to know for my first day at New York Academy for the Gifted (the school that she, Edward, Emmett and Rosalie attended). There was a lot to remember, so eventually I tuned her out, nodding my head and saying "ya" in a few choice places.

"So ill see you at 6 tomorrow morning!" Alice said bringing me back to reality.

"Why so early? It's a Saturday!"

"Tryouts for the musical silly!" I gave her a death stare. As if anticipating my next question, she quickly interjected, "you just said you would! You promised!" She had me there. I never broke a promise.

"Fine" I sighed, making a mental note to never zone out around Alice again. She smiled brightly and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow!"

EPOV

I cursed my friend mike as he turned into the school parking lot. I yawned loudly. "Remind me again why you dragged me out of bed at this ungodly hour?" I asked sourly as he put his car into park.

"Musical tryouts! That means any girl with any sort of talent will be there, many in spandex! This way we can get a preview before school starts on Monday!"

I had totally forgotten about the tryouts, which sucked because for chorus class, you were required to tryout.

"What are they doing this year?"

Mike smiled. "Grease, I think"

We walked in in silence, and I signed in. The boys dance auditions were first, and quite simple. It was mostly group movement and a lot of hip shaking. I walked back to Mike (who was now joined by Tyler) I punched his arm, cutting off his chuckles.

"Good job twinkle toes" Tyler muttered, and I silenced him with a death stare.

The girls dance audition was up next, and I saw Alice waiting up front, she held up 3 fingers, which I took to mean that she was in the third group. I leaned back and waited for the show. The first two groups were nothing special, although it was kind of funny when one girl ran into the piano. Alice was amazing as always and even managed to 'accidentally' kick Lauren in the butt. As annoying Lauren was, it was pretty much a competition between Alice and her for the role of Sandy, and I hoped it wouldn't go to Lauren. When Alice's group finished she came down and sat in front of me to watch the next groups. By the 6th group, I was getting hungry and contemplating getting something to eat, but when I stood up, my eyes fell upon an unfamiliar face. Because she was so far away, it was hard to tell what she really looked like, but she was around 5"5', with brown eyes and brown hair. Her hair was pulled into a perfect bun, and her body suggested she was an experienced dancer. I plopped back down in my seat, never taking my eyes off her. Mike and Tyler quickly followed my eyes and their mouths dropped open.

"Dibs" Mike quickly blurted out and Tyler started to sulk. Alice rolled her eyes

"neither one of you have a chance with her" she said disgusted. Before they had time to argue more, the music started and we all faced forward. The brunette was in the front row and was perfect. She never missed a beat, and the other girls were actually following her moves instead of the choreographer. Once the music stopped, Alice jumped out of her seat clapping loudly and yelled "GO BELLA! WHOO!".

"Wait, Bella?" I asked. Did she mean our Bella? Charlie's sister? I quickly scanned the stage trying to pick out which one she was, but didn't have much trouble. The brunette was such a vibrant red, I could tell all the way from the audience. That was almost as good as a neon sign saying 'I am Bella Swan'. Bella was the brunette? The brunette was Bella? Last time I was Bella was when she was 12, and looked nothing like this.

"Close your mouths lover boys" Alice smirked as she waved Bella over towards us.

Bella slowly slid into the seat in font of me, right next to Alice, and slapped her arm lightly. Seeing her up close almost took my breath away. Her eyes weren't the dull brown you see in most people, but it was almost as if they sparkled. Her perfectly smooth alabaster skin was still slightly pink from her earlier blush, and contrasted dramatically with her dark hair. When she looked at me, I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating.

"Hey Edward" she said sheepishly. "Long time no see" Before I could say anything back, Mike stuck out his hand and said "Hi, I'm Mike". Bella reached out and shook his hand, introducing herself. Then she reached up to release her hair from the bun it was in. I had always thought the slow motion hair shake thing they do in movies was stupid, but now I understood the appeal. As she pulled out the clip releasing her hair, her chocolate colored hair fell down in waves over her shoulders and across her back. I started at the girl who used to be my best friend, the one I spent every waking moment with. I realized how much I really missed her all these years. Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that I had never responded to her greeting, and softly murmured a hello.

BPOV

"GO BELLA!! WHOO!!"

Oh of all that is holy…Did Alice make it her life goal to embarrass me in front of as many people as possible? I walked over to her as I felt a bright blush creep on to my face. Great. I was already red from dancing, so by now I must be as red as a ruby. All of a sudden, a glint caught my eye. Edward. Had he always been this…attractive? No, attractive isn't the right word. He is much more than attractive. Stunning? Gorgeous? Dazzling? Yes, he was dazzling. If I hadn't already been harboring a secret crush on him for the past 4 years, I would have fallen for him now. It should be illegal for a man to be that…dazzling. I sat next to Alice and looked up at his beautiful green eyes.

"Hey Edward. Long time no see" Before he had a chance to answer a hand was thrust in my face; some boy named Mike. I decided to be polite and introduce myself. My hair was starting to pull, so I freed my hair from the clip that kept it in the knot on my head.

"Hello" I head a velvety voice say. I instantly recognized it as Edward's. His smile melted my heart. Then it all came rushing back to me. Every story Alice had told me about him over the past 4 years contained a different girl, and pretty much the same 'activity', and all hope was lost.


End file.
